LOSING THE INTERIOR DESIGN FORMULA: in the kitchen

Interior design cyclically loses it's formula. And what inspiring times those are... Periods when high street and top end of the market designs all seem to strive for the same "look" are contrasted by phases during which interior design heads in multiple directions. The quest for the holy grail, a new and original union of practical and aesthetic concerns, is momentarily open on more fronts.

After a long period during which the UK looked to its European neighbours and actually saw them, the "minimalist formula" was found. Interior design in the 90s applied this formula at every opportunity. Over the last decade however British designers' confidence has grown. Furniture, fabrics, wall papers, just about all expressions of mainstream interior design appears to be searching for a new recipe. Lines are being softened, colour is embraced, pattern is no longer to be frowned upon, every expression of design is potentially acceptable.
This lack of an apparent formula does however confirm an underlying principle which is as valid for interior design today as ever before: the talented lead the way and manufacturers follow, albeit with a delay of a decade or two.
Take kitchen design: Johnny Grey has been producing kitchens like these for the last 3 decades or so. While the price tag falls miles outside the scope of most budgets the inspiration it provides is as cutting edge as it gets. The "soft geometry", the confident colour palette, the quirky references to familial comfort, this is the stuff that 2008/2009 interior design trends are made of!

COLOURS AND SHAPES: confident interior design

As new interior design trends emerge our level of confidence wains and, periodically, we tend to follow new, strict, unwritten rules. As we absorb and come to better understand new influences, we appear to gain the necessary confidence to break some of those rules. Over the last few years British interior design has become familiar with oriental influences, retro design, simplified structural detailing, subtler use of colour and overall cleaner lines. This new "language" of design has now become so familiar that many designers are attempting slightly richer combinations.

While leafing through an old copy of Architectural Digest (Italy, Jan 2008) I came across a photograph which illustrates this approach. Interestingly however, the project belongs to a design firm based in Brescia (Angelo Brignolli and Antonio Feraboli of Studio Linea) whose background, judging by their online portfolio, is very different to that of their UK counterparts. Most of their projects appear routed in the history of Italian architecture and furniture design and executed in conpemporary style. In the bedroom shown above the predominance of clean lines and good proportions allow the designers to play with colour and softened shapes. Ethnic influences are interpreted, not slavishly obeyed. The resulting elegance in no way forfeits comfort or warmth: an interesting example of contemporary UK design from Italian designers! There are obviously many routes one can follow to competent design...